As the Chief Information Security Officer, you want to ensure data shared securely, especially when shared with third parties outside the organization. What protocol provides the ability to extend the network perimeter with the use of encapsulation and encryption?

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) enables secure sharing of data by encapsulating and encrypting data packets over the network. VPNs create a secure "tunnel" between the organization and third parties, ensuring that data remains confidential and protected from unauthorized access during transmission. Other options like FTP, VLAN, and SMTP do not inherently provide the same level of encryption and secure encapsulation for extending network perimeters.
Reference: https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/virtual-private-network